Bronze and Gold
by soft lite
Summary: He could afford three stones, for the two of them and my mom, sapphire, garnet, and amethyst, but not gold, and since it was their bronze anniversary, he went with that."


Title: Bronze and Gold Author: soft lite.  
Characters: CJ, Danny, Josh, and Donna.  
Rating: PG.  
Disclaimer: Characters from "The West Wing" are not mine.  
Spoilers: Through Season 5.  
Archive: If you want to.  
Author's note: Thanks to writerlady for encouraging me to come up with a story for this ring. I usually try to stay reasonably close to cannon, but this one will take a definite turn towards alternate universe.  
  
Danny walked into CJ's office unannounced and looking tousled and closed the door.  
  
It had been months since she'd seen him, and there had been no warning of his return, "Hi," CJ offered as he sat down on the other side of her desk.  
  
"Hi. I'm sorry to come without finding Carol and going through her, but this is important and time-sensitive."  
  
"Okay," CJ replied, capping her highlighter and taking off her glasses.  
  
"I just came from a police station."  
  
"How long were you locked up?" CJ asked with a smile.  
  
"Very funny. I was filing a complaint because my apartment was robbed last night."  
  
With a serious face and a concerned voice, "Did they take your police scanner?"  
  
"Yes, as a matter of fact, they did."  
  
"You just happened to get back to DC the morning after you were robbed?"  
  
"No, the sweet old lady across the hall turns lights on and off in my apartment at random times when I'm away. She called at 6 a.m. to let me know, I flew back, had a look, did the police thing, and now I'm here."  
  
"I'm sorry to hear about your police scanner, of course, but why do you think it's so urgent that I know about this?"  
  
"Among the many things they took was the lockbox from my closet."  
  
For the first time in this conversation actually sounding serious, CJ responded, "Please tell me you don't keep the names of your sources in the White House and on the Hill on paper in a lock box in your closet."  
  
"Coded names of my sources are in encrypted files saved only to CD-ROMs and kept in safety deposit boxes in banks," Danny assured her.  
  
"Good. So why is the White House concerned about your lockbox?"  
  
Danny blew out his breath, looked CJ in the eye, and tried to come up with some way to not tell her, "There's something in there with your name in it."  
  
"Is it your diary?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Did you write something about me?"  
  
"No. Well, yes, kinda – but that's also in an encrypted file in a safety deposit box."  
  
"We'll talk about that later. Meanwhile, spit out what was stolen."  
  
"Three years ago, after what you said to me in the Oval Office, I felt awful. I was depressed, and when I get that way, I look through the things my grandmother left me. She died when I was eight."  
  
"You're stalling."  
  
He pulled a ring out of his pocket and handed it to her.  
  
"It's brass – no, bronze – and all the stones are missing."  
  
"Yeah, I know. I'll get there. When I'm depressed, I look through my grandmother's things, especially her birthstone ring. Grandpa gave it to her for their eighth anniversary. He could afford three stones, for the two of them and my mom, sapphire, garnet, and amethyst, but not gold, and since it was their bronze anniversary, he went with that."  
  
"But there were six stones on this ring."  
  
"Yes. After my sister and I were born, Grandpa persuaded Grandma to let him add stones for us and my dad. He also offered to have all six set in a new gold ring, but she insisted the bronze was more meaningful."  
  
"I'm sure this is a touching story, but why do I need to know this now?" CJ continued turning the bronze ring in her fingers.  
  
"The reason the stones are missing from that ring is that I had them set around a diamond on a gold band with the inscription, 'CJ, I love you, Danny.'"  
  
Stunned silence followed. Eventually CJ handed the ring back and asked, "And you wrote those words on the police report?"  
  
"No, of course not. I wrote that there was an inscription. But at some point that ring is going to turn up at a hock shop, the picture of it is being circulated, so the owner will recognize it as stolen, and someone's going to read the inscription."  
  
"Do I want to know why you had a birthstone ring made for me?" CJ asked, trying to avoid his eyes.  
  
"No."  
  
"You're wrong. Well, maybe I don't want to, but I do need to."  
  
"It's an engagement ring," Danny explained the obvious, "I was going to give it to you after Inauguration Day."  
  
CJ let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "And you kept it in your lockbox in your closet."  
  
"Yeah sometimes. In retrospect it should have been in a safety deposit box all the time, but there's nothing to be done about that now."  
  
"Well, you'd better go and do whatever it is you need to do and let me figure out how to contain this." As soon as Danny was out of sight, CJ took a deep breath and went to Josh's office.  
  
As she approached, she overheard Josh and Donna in an animated discussion. ". . .I can write it off my taxes."  
  
"No, you can't, Donna."  
  
"But I'm a federal employee."  
  
"I don't care – you don't get to make up your own tax breaks."  
  
"Sorry to interrupt," CJ smiled.  
  
"We were done," Josh said with conviction as Donna huffed and left. CJ let herself in the office and closed the door. "Uh oh."  
  
"Why'd you say that?"  
  
"Cause you closed the door. That must mean this is something big and bad."  
  
CJ blew out a breath, "Well, it has the potential to be."  
  
"Spill."  
  
"Danny's apartment was robbed, and inside a lockbox they took is the engagement ring Danny had made for me."  
  
"You and Danny are engaged?"  
  
"Of course not. I didn't know anything about the ring until just now when Danny came to warn me that it's out there and it has an inscription so it could be linked to me when it shows up in a hock shop."  
  
"He had a ring MADE for you?"  
  
"He had some stones removed from his grandmother's birthstone ring and set with a diamond. But that's beside the point."  
  
"His grandmother's –"  
  
"Joshua!"  
  
"Right. What is the point?"  
  
"That someone is going to put two and two together! And I'm going to have to spin it."  
  
Josh squinted thoughtfully, "You shouldn't have to spin it."  
  
"Well, that would be nice, but it's my job."  
  
Nodding, Josh suggested, "Make Danny spin it for you."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because lots of people know he has a thing for you, and most assume it's unrequited."  
  
"How would he spin it?"  
  
"I dunno. He publishes an article describing what it's like to be robbed and in it mentions that one of the things stolen was the engagement ring he had made from his grandmother's birthstone ring for a woman he'd never even confessed his love to."  
  
"That's not strictly true. Plus it'll really make him sound pathetic."  
  
"Well, he is, really."  
  
CJ scowled, "I came to you first because I thought you might at least try to make me feel better about this."  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know that was what you wanted." Josh stood up, went to CJ, put a hand on her shoulder, and spoke in a soft, comforting voice, "Think of it this way, CJ, maybe Leo will be so mad when he hears the White House Senior Correspondent had an engagement ring made for the White House Press Secretary that he'll fire you, and then you and Danny can be together."  
  
CJ pulled away from Josh, "I'm going to see Toby now."  
  
"If he tries to give you grief, just remind him who impregnated an unmarried member of Congress."  
  
"Yeah, that'll go over well," CJ mused, opening the door and heading toward Toby's office. "You're not coming with me?" she called back.  
  
"Nope. Gonna have Donna get Danny in here so I can talk to him."  
  
---  
  
Toby didn't even seem to notice CJ as she entered his office, closed the door, and sat down. After a minute, "Toby?"  
  
Toby looked up without moving his head, "CJ?"  
  
CJ popped up and began pacing. "I didn't even know about it. It's not my fault. And I don't know how to make it go away."  
  
"CJ!" Toby yelled. "What the hell are you talking about?! Focus!"  
  
"Danny's apartment was robbed last night. One of the items they stole was the engagement ring Danny had made for me without my knowledge. It has an inscription, and someone's going to figure out it was for me."  
  
"He had this ring just sitting around his apartment?"  
  
"No, it was in a lockbox in his closet. They took the whole lockbox."  
  
"I guess we could hope they don't open it."  
  
"What are the odds on that?"  
  
"Very slim."  
  
"Damn." CJ shook her head, "Besides, he wants the ring back – the stones set around the diamond are from his grandmother's birthstone ring."  
  
"He had an engagement ring made for you from a family heirloom?!"  
  
"I didn't know about it! We've never even been on a date!"  
  
Toby took a slow, cleansing breath, "Okay, fighting isn't going to get us anywhere. We need to talk to Josh and Leo."  
  
"I already talked to Josh. He's probably talking to Danny now."  
  
"Did Josh have any ideas?"  
  
"He said to let Danny spin it in an article that makes clear that the anonymous woman knew nothing about it."  
  
"That's not a bad idea, for a start. You're going to get questions, though."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"I'll go talk to Josh and Danny, you go see Leo."  
  
"Coward – sending me into the lion's den alone!" CJ accused, leaving Toby's office and heading towards Leo's. She approached Margaret's desk and peeked at Leo's schedule, "I can come back later if he doesn't have time to see me now."  
  
Margaret looked at the clock, "Go in now, he's got a few minutes now."  
  
With dread, CJ knocked and went in, "Hi Leo."  
  
"CJ," Leo responded without looking up from his reading.  
  
CJ was still dawdling near the door, "I could come back later if you're busy."  
  
Suddenly, CJ had all Leo's attention, "Get in here and tell me what's wrong."  
  
"What makes you think –"  
  
"CJ Cregg does not hover by the door. Now tell me."  
  
"Danny's apartment was robbed. A lockbox was taken. Inside the lockbox was an engagement ring he had made for me without my knowledge. There's an inscription, so when it's found, someone's going to figure it out."  
  
"It what?"  
  
"That's just it! There is no it, but everyone will assume there is an it!"  
  
"CJ, why would Danny have a ring made for you if there's no it?" When CJ didn't respond, "Are you in love with him?"  
  
"That doesn't matter, Leo."  
  
"That does matter, CJ, that'll affect how to spin it."  
  
While CJ was still mulling this over, there was a knock at the door and Josh, Toby, and Danny came in. "We've got an idea for how to get started with this thing," Josh started, "Danny says he's written something that's in a file in a safety deposit box –"  
  
"Why wasn't the ring in a safety deposit box?" Leo asked.  
  
Danny replied, "Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't."  
  
Toby continued, "As Josh was saying, Danny can plug this into a story about what it's like being robbed."  
  
Josh took over, "It won't name CJ, but will say one of the things stolen was an engagement ring for a woman he'd never confessed his love to."  
  
Leo interrupted to ask Danny, "Can you get it written and in the paper today?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Then Leo turned, "CJ, I'm going to need an answer soon because this is just step one."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Is that yeah, I'll tell you soon, or yeah?"  
  
CJ sighed, "Yeah. Yeah."  
  
Leo let that hang in the air for a moment. "Okay. What's going to happen when the press reads Danny's article?"  
  
Josh offered, "Besides them thinking he's really pathetic?"  
  
"Josh, shut up," Leo ordered. "We have to all work together to deal with this."  
  
Toby suggested, "We're talking about the White House press corps, and some of them will suspect CJ." Turning to her he asked, "Do any of them know anything?"  
  
"I don't think so."  
  
"But you're right that some will suspect," Danny added. "Some of them give me a hard time about unrequited love."  
  
"Well," commented Leo, "maybe we can put an end to that. Josh, Toby, start working with CJ on answers to some obvious questions. Once you start to feel good about it, come back and let me get in on it."  
  
Toby and Josh both looked confused as Leo spoke, and Toby asked, "Wait, Leo, what are we prepping CJ to do?"  
  
Leo turned to CJ, "Are you up to this?"  
  
"I guess we'll find out."  
  
Leo turned back to Toby, "CJ's maybe coming out."  
  
"As a lesbian?" Josh asked.  
  
Leo rolled his eyes, "As a woman who's been secretly in love and not doing anything about it for a long time. Oh, and CJ, you're going to have to talk to the President before anyone else knows anything."  
  
"Do you think Dad will give me permission to go on a date?"  
  
"I suggest you not address him that way," Leo quickly advised. "Danny, you need to get that thing from the safety deposit box and get writing." After watching Danny stare mutely for a few seconds, he added, "Are you going to be okay with all this, Danny?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"You're going to write your thing – I'm sorry, I should have asked you to leave earlier – this is the way we do things: we'll try out honest but not entirely candid answers, and if it works, we do it. Otherwise we'll drill non-answer answers." CJ groaned. "I know you don't like them, but you're good at them. If you don't want to do that, then use it as incentive to make the other work."  
  
Josh smirked, "Yeah, that's the incentive."  
  
Leo ignored Josh, "You need to write your thing as though you have no expectations about this relationship. Then when it breaks, you're going to have to sit in the fourth row and act surprised by whatever CJ says."  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Right. Go write."  
  
When Danny still looked dazed and didn't move, CJ whispered, "Nimrod, door. Now." At this, Danny turned, looked at her with a blank face, and then left.  
  
"Is he going to be able to handle this?" Leo asked.  
  
"Yes," CJ and Josh answered together and glanced at each other.  
  
"Josh and Toby, go get started. CJ will join you in a minute. CJ, come with me," Leo pointed toward the Oval Office.  
  
"Finally a guy who'll walk with me into fire," CJ remarked.  
  
"Leo, CJ!" the President greeted them jovially as they entered. He pushed papers toward Charlie, "You guys are going to have to bring this paperwork back later. Before that, go through it again to see if there's more the autopen can do."  
  
After Charlie left and closed the door, Leo explained, "CJ needs to talk to you."  
  
"And you're here to hold her hand?"  
  
"This is a bad time to joke about that, Mr. President. Lucky for you, I've said this so often, I'm getting good at it: Danny's apartment was robbed…"  
  
"God, that's terrible, CJ," the President said looking very concerned, "Is Danny okay?"  
  
"Yeah, he wasn't in town at the time."  
  
"Good.  
  
"They took a lockbox that contained an engagement ring I didn't know anything about, but it has an inscription that's going to connect it to me when it's found."  
  
"Leo, what are we doing?"  
  
"Danny's writing an article about what it's like to be robbed and it'll have a thing in it about the ring he had made for an anonymous woman he'd never confessed his love to. CJ, Josh, and Toby are going to work on what CJ'll say at the briefing tomorrow morning."  
  
"Isn't that going to make Danny look ridiculous?"  
  
"Yes," CJ nodded.  
  
"And he's okay with that?"  
  
"Evidently," CJ shrugged.  
  
Leo added, "He's probably hoping CJ can spin this so they can date."  
  
"Well, if anyone can, it's our CJ. Do you want to date him?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Then why did you lie to me three years ago?"  
  
"I didn't."  
  
"You said there was nothing personal between you."  
  
"You asked if my advice about the interview was for personal reasons. It wasn't. And you practically congratulated me on my wise decision not to date Danny and didn't give me time to reply."  
  
"You haven't dated him because you saw no alternative?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"You're in love with him?"  
  
CJ looked uncomfortable about having to discuss her personal feelings, but quietly answered, "Yes."  
  
"Well then, go figure out how to spin this."  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
CJ had only taken a couple of steps towards the door when the President added, "I only wish my own daughters would end up with guys as good as Danny. He's a gem, CJ."  
  
With a small smile, CJ agreed, "Yes, sir." 


End file.
